SANAA — On Wednesday, July 23, Yemen’s president visited a town close to the capital that had been captured by Shi’a Houthi fighters this month, and said all sides had agreed to allow the state to retake control, state news agency Saba reported.

President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi went to Amran, 50 kms (30 miles) north of Sanaa, to check on efforts to “return the situation in the city to normal and address the effect of the unfortunate events of armed confrontation that took place recently,” Saba said.

The fighting killed at least 200 people, displaced more than 35,000 and increased concerns of further turmoil in a country also struggling with a secessionist movement in its south and attacks by Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Hadi said all parties had agreed to withdraw fighters from Amran province. He also pledged 5 billion rials ($23.3 million) to rebuild property damaged in the fighting, according to Saba.

The Houthis rebels, named after their leader’s tribe, have said their fight was against rivals loyal to the Islamist Islah party – which has links to the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood – rather than the government, and that they had no intention of attacking Sanaa.

arlier this month, the Houthis handed back an army camp they had captured in Amran to the government, a move seen as an attempt to defuse tensions.